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Planning, building and the environment

Building Regulations

This page provides a brief summary of the Building Regulations and the Government's current priorities as well as useful links for visitors to this website.

Building Regulations

Communities and Local Government is responsible for policy on the Building Regulations, which exist to ensure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of people in and around buildings, and the energy efficiency of buildings. The regulations apply to most new buildings and many alterations of existing buildings in England and Wales, whether domestic, commercial or industrial.

The Building Act 1984 is the enabling Act under which the Building Regulations 2000 and Building (Approved Inspectors etc) Regulations 2000 have been made. They set standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure the safety and health for people in or about those buildings. They also include requirements to ensure that fuel and power is conserved and facilities are provided for people, including those with disabilities, to access and move around inside buildings.

The Building Regulations set out:

• what works/buildings are covered
• the standards building work must meet
• the role of Local Authorities and Approved Inspectors
• how Building Regulations are enforced

There are also provisions for dangerous, defective, dilapidated and ruinous buildings and on the demolition of buildings in the Building Act 1984. These are enforced by local authorities.

The Building Control system is the system through which the Building Regulations standards are applied and enforced and is supported by documents called Approved Documents.  Schedule 1 to the Regulations, contains the' functional requirements' for building design and construction in 14 Parts (A to P) which cover the following:

• Part A - Structure
• Part B - Fire safety
• Part C - Site preparation and resistance to moisture
• Part D - Toxic substances
• Part E - Resistance to the passage of sound
• Part F - Ventilation
• Part G - Hygiene
• Part H - Drainage and waste disposal
• Part J - Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems
• Part K - Protection from falling, collision and impact
• Part L - Conservation of fuel and power
• Part M - Access to and use of buildings
• Part N - Glazing: safety in relation to impact, opening and cleaning
• Part P - Electrical safety

The Approved Documents contain practical and technical guidance on ways to comply with the 'functional requirements' in the Building Regulations. The specific guidance and examples in these documents offer ways to comply with the Building Regulations in common building circumstances, but they do not have to be followed as long as compliance with the requirements in Schedule 1 can be demonstrated in another way. 

General public users and professional users can access further building regulations guidance, including being able to download the latest Approved Documents for free (external link), from the Planning Portal (external link)  which is a one-stop source of information on all planning and building regulations matters.

A common misconception is that the Building Regulations also cover the 'quality' of construction as opposed to the basic performance standards. This is not the case.

If a homeowner has a grievance with a builder on an issue of quality or finish, the building control system can play no part in resolving this, although Building Control Bodies (local authority building control or an Approved Inspector) may make visits to sites to ensure the construction follows compliance with the design submitted, and general good practice.

How to comply with Building Regulations

Building regulations are different from planning permission and for many types of building work separate permissions will be required under both regimes. Unlike the Planning system, the Building Control system works on a compliance basis rather than an inspection basis.

This means that it is the responsibility of the individual carrying out the building works to ensure that the work complies with the 'functional requirements' of the Building Regulations.  If a builder is employed, the responsibility will usually be theirs - but this should be confirmed at the beginning. You should also bear in mind that if you own the building - it would ultimately be you who could be served with an enforcement notice if work does not comply with the regulations.

Someone who is planning to undertake building work which is subject to the regulations must notify either:

• local authority building control; or
• a private Approved Inspector

This is done before starting work and at certain key points in the build process so that an independent check can be made of the work.

Certain types of building work can also be carried out by an individual or enterprises belonging to a Competent Persons Scheme. This allows those who are competent in their field to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations as an alternative to submitting a building notice or full plans to the local authority or using an approved inspector and thus incurring their fees. To learn more about how to get Building Regulations approval(external link) visit the Planning Portal website. 

Current and future developments

The Department has a responsibility to develop Building Regulations which help deliver the Government's commitments to build more new homes, cut building-based carbon emissions and respond to climate change. We balance this with the responsibility to regulate in an evidence-based and proportionate manner, and ensure that the market can see the direction of travel in the regulations and can respond.

Our current priorities are:

• implementing the outcome of the Review of Building Control: aiming to help improve compliance levels, reduce the burden and cost to industry, and deliver a service that is focussed on the customer
• changes to Approved Documents Part L on consumption of fuel and power, and to Part G on water efficiency
• supporting the commitment to deliver zero carbon homes from 2016 through the Code for Sustainable Homes
• supporting the ambition for zero carbon new non-domestic buildings from 2019 and new public sector buildings from 2018
• understanding the cumulative impact of regulation and moving towards a fixed review cycle of the Regulations
• understanding the impact of Europe on the Building Regulations system through current or developing EU legislation.

There is more in-depth policy information on the above issues in our Planning, building and the environment policy site.

Related publications

• Building Regulations Explanatory Booklet

  • Published: 1 January 2003
  • Site: Planning, building and the environment

• The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet

  • Published: N/A
  • Site: Planning, building and the environment